President Miller inquired if bees 

 could be moved short distances success- 

 fully, in flying time, by putting a board 

 in front of the hive ? 



The question was answered affirma- 

 tively by many. 



T. G. Newman introduced Signor 

 Mini, a Spanish gentleman, to the Con- 

 vention, who proceeded to give a graphic 

 description of bee-keeping in the Old 

 World. In Spain but little progress has 

 been made in scientific bee-culture ; the 

 most primitive hives are still in vogue, 

 and native black bees, similar to the 

 black bees in this country, are the only 

 ones kept. When surplus comb honey 

 is obtained, it is clone by inverting 

 earthen jars, and small wooden boxes 

 similar to those formerly used in this 

 country, over the hives ; but a movable 

 frame hive is unknown there, as is also 

 comb foundation, and, in fact, all the 

 implements and improvements in use 

 in this country ; the honey obtained 

 there is much darker than ours, but is 

 of good flavor; in the Guadalajara dis- 

 trict, where the rosemary grows spon- 

 taneously and very abundant, is pro- 

 duced the best honey, which ranks in 

 the Madrid market about as does our 

 honey from white and sweet clovers and 

 linden in the American market ; it is 

 not so white, and the general appear- 

 ance is not nearly so attractive, but the 

 honey is very fine and commands a ready 

 sale. France is more progressive than 

 Spain, and in Bordeaux and other cities 

 there are schools of instruction in bee- 

 keeping. Mr. Mihl had visited but little 

 with the apiarists in this country ; he 

 had spent some time with Messrs. L. C. 

 Root & Bro., and was astonished with 

 the quantity and quality of honey they 

 obtained, although they informed him 

 it was not a good honey season. Why, 

 in Guadalajara 75 to 100 lbs. is a large 

 yield of '•'strained'" honey from 1 colony. 

 Mostly all the Spanish honey is strained, 

 the combs being mashed and the honey 

 is pressed or squeezed through cloths. 



T. G. Newman, special committee on 

 statistics, made a report. Many of the 

 larger producers were not in at the time 

 of its collation, but the result of those 

 present was as follows : 



No. of colonies now 1,734 



No. of colonies in the spring... 1,338 



Increase 396 



Comb honey produced, lbs.. 

 Extracted " " 



, . 10,780 

 ,.35,578- 



Total honey " ....46,358 



The crop thus reported was an aver- 

 age of 34% lbs. per colony in the spring. 

 Six persons only reported no surplus for 

 the season. 



Those wintered in the cellar, 792 ; 

 packed in chaff, 603 ; without protec- 

 tion, 43. The loss in wintering was 7 

 per cent. 



Mr. Messimore inquired if it was 

 known to a certainty that the drone 

 progeny of a pure queen, mismated, 

 will be pure ? 



No one could give a positive answer 

 from experience. 



Adjourned till 1:30 p. m. 



Afternoon Session. 



H. D. Burrell inquired if cider was 

 detrimental to bees, and will they work 

 around cider-mills to the extent of in- 

 juring themselves ? 



President Miller thought they would. 



A. Rice has a bee-keeping neighbor 

 who owns a cider-mill, and who usually 

 is obliged to re-stock his apiary each 

 spring. 



George Thompson said there could be 

 no doubt of the injurious effects of cider- 

 mills upon bees located in their vicinity. 



T. G. Newman read the following pa- 

 per, as pertaining to the subject of the 

 '' Best Business Bees": 



How can we Improve our Bees 1 



How can we rear the best "' business 

 bees?" Only by producing the best 

 queens and best drones possible, from 

 the best colonies we have or can procure. 

 We must take as much pains in rearing 

 queens and drones as the breeders of 

 different kinds of fine stock do in the 

 selection of choice animals to breed 

 from. I confidently expect, in a few 

 years, to see strains of bees far superior 

 to any we now have. The main point 

 is in breeding queens. We cannot get 

 the best queens from larvae one day or 

 one hour old, for then they will get some 

 worker food. They must have royal 

 food from the time they hatch, so I 

 would give the bees eggs at least 6 hours 

 before they hatch, so that cells will be 

 started and plenty of royal food be put 

 into them when needed. 



Eighteen years of observation have 

 shown me that workers reared in the 

 swarming and honey-producing season, 

 are better developed and more perfect 

 than earlier or later, and so it is with 

 queens and drones. We can get the bees 

 to give a limited number of cells that 

 close attention which they usually give 

 2 or 3 of the first ones, when getting 

 ready to swarm naturally, in a full colony 

 of our best bees, in 2 or 3 months of the 

 swarming and honey-producing season; 

 and neither before nor after that season 

 can we, by any pains that we may take, 

 rear as perfect ones. 



We cannot rear best queens in colo- 

 nies of blacks, but must rear them in 



